HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Trading in shares of HSBC Holdings was suspended for Monday's session in Hong Kong, pending what the bank called "the announcement of a corporate action," as the company was expected to reveal a pullback from its U.S. consumer lending business.
The banking giant is also due to announce its 2008 earnings report later in the day.
Shares of HSBC's Hong Kong-based subsidiary, Hang Seng Bank dropped 4% ahead of its own results for 2008. Daiwa Research expects Hang Seng's 2008 profit to drop to HK$14.06 billion from $18.24 billion in 2007.
The decline came amid steep falls in Hong Kong as well as the region after U.S. stocks extended their losses Friday.
The Hang Seng Index was recently down 3.6% at 12,349.60 in Hong Kong, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended the morning trading session 3.2% lower at 7,325.96.
Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.3%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 2.7%, South Korea's Kospi sank 3.8%, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 2.9% and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 2%.
The Wall Street Journal reported that HSBC plans to curtail its foray into U.S. consumer lending by pulling back from key businesses.
The lender is largely throwing in the towel on its 2003 purchase of Household International Inc., a $14 billion deal that saddled it with a U.S. subprime lender that has seen its results worsen amid the housing downturn, the report said.
Separately, HSBC is also expected to cut its dividend and raise more than GBP12 billion ($17 billion) in a deeply-discounted rights issue on Monday, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expect HSBC to report a net income of HK$100.4 billion ($12.87 billion) for the year, down from its profit of more than $19 billion in 2007.
In a recent report, Daiwa Research noted that consensus estimates on HSBC's 2008 performance varied widely, with analysts anticipating its net profit to fall anywhere between $10.9 billion and $18.4 billion.
Shares of HSBC, which command a weighting of more than 11% in the Hang Seng Index, ended down 0.9% on Friday. Trading in the shares is expected to resume Tuesday.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
Facebook
Twitter